The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has described the recent altercation between the Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi, and Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ministries in Enugu as shameful.
The CBCN, therefore, warned its members against partisan politics, saying doing such amounted to a contravention of the Canon Law of the church.
This was contained in a statement on Thursday by the Secretary-General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ralph Madu.
Madu said the incident did not have the support of the CBCN.
According to him, the stand of the Catholic Church on August 7, 2018 that priests should remain apolitical and must not support or subscribe to any political party has not changed.
He said, “Our concern is for a peaceful election process seen to be free, fair, credible and just. We are for a democratic governance that guarantees peace, justice, equity, development and religious freedom for the common good.
“Mindful of the present charged political life of the country, with the ongoing campaign of political parties gathering momentum, we deem it necessary to again remind all priests and faithful to keep the position of the church on the issue of non-partisan politics.”
He explained that while the Enugu Diocese is taking appropriate measures on the incident, “no Catholic priest or faithful should be involved in partisan politics in obedience to the Canon Law of the church.”
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